No. 11 ROF: The Factory
“The best immediate defence of the United States is the success of Great Britain in defending itself. From a selfish point of view of American defence we should do everything to help the British Empire to defend itself.”
1941
ROF No. 11 Logo Roundel
Construction of Number 11 Royal Ordnance Factory, Newport commenced on a former allotment site off Corporation Road in April 1940.
The factory was established under the management of Superintendent Alexander McWilliam Galbraith, previously General Manager of the Naval Construction Works at Dalmuir, Scotland.
ROF, Framing Out, 1940
Under the lend-lease initiative created by the United States to supply Allied nations with support during wartime, machines used to build weapons were delivered to ROF Newport in July of 1940.
On 7th November 1940 the Factory was officially opened by Sir Charles McLaren, the Director General of Ordnance Factories.
ROF, Completed, 1940
President Franklin D. Roosevelt first announced the Lend-Lease programme to the American public in a radio broadcast on 17th December, 1940. In his message to Congress on 6th January 1941 the President said:
"The best immediate defence of the United States is the success of Great Britain in defending itself. From a selfish point of view of American defence we should do everything to help the British Empire to defend itself.”
Roosevelt and Churchill at the signing of the Atlantic Charter aboard HMS Prince of Wales off Newfoundland, August 1941
ROF, First production gun, 1941
It took less than a year to build and equip the factory, employ and train the workers, and start production. The first gun was manufactured in January 1941.
Among a wide variety of weapons, ROF No. 11 chiefly produced the Bofors QF 40mm, an antiaircraft autocannon first designed in the 1930s by Swedish firm AB Bofors.
By December 1944, the factory had produced over 12,000 munitions, including anti-tank guns, Bofors guns, 20mm cannon and mortars as well as spare parts and shell casings.
